“No!” gasped Narda.

“Yeah. Trust me. And I know,” said Sandrine. “’Cause I’ve been there. Well—not on your end. But … on Chuck’s end—with Jimmy. Remember Jimmy?”

“Yeah,” they all moaned, because they remembered Jimmy. He was sweet. But just not right—not for Sandrine, anyway.

“Well,” continued Sandrine, “he asked me one night what I thought about getting married.”

“He did?” asked Narda. This was news to everyone and caused quite the kerfuffle.

“Yeah,” answered Sandrine.

“And…?” asked Narda, on everyone’s behalf.

“And … I got quiet. For a long time. Because I realized that I didn’t love him—at least, not as much as he loved me. And I had to let him know that I didn’t wanna marry him.”

“Oh,” said Narda.

“So I did. And—I ended it with him—sort of—in my own way. And now you’re gonna end it with Chuck. In your own way.”

“Okay,” whimpered Narda. And the girls comforted her. And then the waitress came up to the bar and said that they all needed to start thinking about moving into the banquet room, because dinner was going to be served soon.

So the girls started moving toward the banquet room.

And Gayle said she’d be right with them all, after she used the restroom. And she made her way to the back of the Moose Paddy, and, instead of going to the restroom, she slipped out the back door, and her heart started racing as she made her way to her Jeep.

And once she was in her Jeep, her heart stopped racing and just sank.

Because she had had Lendall over for dinner a couple of weeks ago and asked him what he thought about getting married.

And he got quiet.

So quiet.

And she had been wondering ever since what that quiet had meant.

And now she knew. Thanks to Sandrine. And Narda.

And now she had to end things with him. In her own way. Because he didn’t love her anymore.

And she took a deep breath and started her Jeep and was about to pull out of the Moose Paddy parking lot and go end things with Lendall—when she realized that she needed to go back to her place first and gather up all the things that he had at her house so she could bring them back to him.

And then she’d end things with him. In her own way.

And then she’d get from him all the things she had at his house.

And then she’d leave.

And they’d be done.

So she pulled out of the Moose Paddy parking lot and turned left onto the Road to Somewhere and headed to her house so she could gather up all of Lendall’s stuff. And give it back to him.

She passed Ma Dudley’s Boardinghouse.

And St. Mary’s Church.

And the old Gallagher Potato Farm.

And Skyview Park.

And, as she drove, she wondered what she was going to say to Lendall when she saw him.

Ten minutes later, she was at her house gathering all the stuff she needed to return to Lendall: some clothes, a toothbrush, deodorant, some tools, some boots, and some American Rifleman and Popular Woodworking magazines. And she shoved all his stuff into his old army duffel and slung it over her shoulder and was about to leave when she realized that she had almost forgotten the most important thing she needed to return. And she gathered it up and shoved it into garbage bags—lots of garbage bags. And then she shoved the garbage bags into the Jeep. They barely all fit, but she managed to squeeze them all into the cargo area, and into the backseat, and she even had to put some of them on the passenger seat. And then she plunked Lendall’s old army duffel on the floor in front of the passenger seat. And then she got in her Jeep and started it and headed back toward down-township Almost to Lendall’s house, which was located about a quarter of a mile past the Rec Center.